Jiang Lijin leaned against Chiron's chest, his body heat seeping through his clothes and dispelling the chill in the machine room. No wonder her memories had always been fragmented, never quite piecing together into a complete picture. What she had once put down to the passage of time was actually because her soul had long been shattered.
She rested for a moment before stepping back half a pace from Chiron's embrace. The man released her without lingering, simply standing quietly by her side.
Jiang Lijin smoothed the rumpled collar of her coat and turned her gaze back to the pillar of light. A detail she had overlooked earlier now surfaced: Xiao Yi had been complaining lately about insufficient energy, with its hibernation frequency growing ever higher. Just now, the Main Brain had forcibly pushed something through the port into Xiao Yi.
She stared at the light pillar and asked directly, "So, I've been absorbing Xiao Yi?"
The machine room fell silent for three seconds. A mechanical voice answered, "Yes. To be precise, you have been reclaiming yourself."
A scream exploded in her mind.
[AAAAHHHHHH—]
Xiao Yi's electronic voice cracked, sobbing miserably amidst static and crackling noise that rattled Jiang Lijin's brain: [Host! I'm going to die! You're going to eat me! I don't want to disappear! I haven't even saved up enough points from the kickbacks I scammed off your purchases! How can I just vanish like this?!]
It wailed without restraint, completely forgetting the Main Brain's earlier explanation that it was essentially a piece of her. Jiang Lijin neither scolded it for skimming points nor offered any comfort.
She looked at the light pillar and asked, "Is there a way to stop this absorption?"
"No," the mechanical voice replied. "Though this is a world within a book, the underlying rule was set when Xiao Er traveled back ten thousand years. All things return to one. Your soul must be made whole."
[It's over, it's over, it's over…] Xiao Yi wailed even louder. [I'm done for. From now on, Host, you'll have to set off fireworks for yourself…]
Jiang Lijin frowned, staring at the shimmering light points, saying nothing.
The Main Brain's stream of light swirled twice more, and the mechanical voice spoke again, this time with hesitation, "But if it detaches from your soul, the absorption process will stop. All you need to do is find a sufficiently potent physical vessel, forcibly extract its core code and the fragmented soul shard, and seal them inside—physically isolating them."
Jiang Lijin asked, "What kind of carrier?"
"A robot. It must be an advanced body built with a superconducting alloy frame and equipped with an independent quantum chip, able to withstand the energy surge during the separation process."
"Then do it," Jiang Lijin said.
"Wait—you need to understand the cost." The Main Brain cut her off. "Once it physically detaches, Xiao Yi will no longer be your companion system. It will become an independent AI entity. Your mental link will be severed completely. This means you will permanently lose access to the system space. The system shop will be unusable, item conversion and the point network will fail, and all auxiliary functions that transcend the dimensions of this world will be closed to you."
The machine room fell silent.
In her mind, Xiao Yi's crying stopped too. It knew full well what the system shop meant to Jiang Lijin.
The particle cannon fire from Darren that had nearly killed her—she had survived only because of the defensive items she had exchanged from the shop. In this interstellar world, the system shop was Jiang Lijin's trump card.
[Host...] Xiao Yi’s voice was very soft, tinged with fear. [Maybe... let’s forget it. I was always a part of you anyway. Returning to the main body is only right.]
It stammered, trying to comfort itself: [Without the mall, what if you run into danger later?]
Jiang Lijin couldn’t help but laugh.
She turned her gaze to Chiron. He met her eyes, piecing together the truth from her conversation with the Main Brain: she was about to give up a lifesaving tool to save an AI.
But he didn’t say a word to stop her. He simply drew closer and took her hand.
Jiang Lijin looked away from him and turned back to the Main Brain.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said, her tone light. “Go ahead and extract it. I only used that shabby mall three times anyway. Losing it is no big deal.” She shoved her hands back into her coat pockets. “Besides, keeping that greedy, cowardly system in my head, babbling day and night, just gives me a headache. Getting it out sooner means peace and quiet.”
Inside her mind, Xiao Yi let out a hiccupping sob, torn between gratitude and indignation: [Host! You’re going to give me a body?!]
Jiang Lijin replied silently: [What else? You think I’d really swallow you as some tonic? Shut up and get ready to move.]
Xiao Yi cast aside its earlier fear and began making demands: [Wow! A physical body! I’m going to have a physical body! Host, I want a handsome one! Preferably a sleek, aerodynamic model with full holographic projection! A macho build, and eight-pack abs would be even better!]
Jiang Lijin’s head throbbed at the noise: [Shut up. Be grateful you get a place to live at all. Don’t get picky.]
She turned her head to look at Saien, who was still sitting on the floor. The old Dean was stunned senseless by the series of shocks, staring blankly at them.
“Dean,” Jiang Lijin said, walking over to him and meeting his gaze. “Does the Academy have any idle robots? Ones with a large enough cranial capacity?”
Saien blinked up at her dumbly. It took him several seconds to realize she was talking to him. “Ah? Robots?” The old man scrambled to his feet, dusting off his lab coat. “Yes, yes! The Academy’s logistics department has plenty, all kinds of models. Do you need one for transportation or cleaning? There are also research assistant models.”
“I need a top-tier military-grade one. I want to install a system comparable to the Main Brain.”
Jiang Lijin turned to the Main Brain. “If I stuff it into a robot’s head, will it survive? How does the process work?”
The Main Brain answered: “Yes. The extraction process will cause data loss, but it won’t jeopardize the core logic. Take it to the carrier. Once you’re ready, I’ll assist with the extraction remotely.”
Saien listened, piecing together the gist from Jiang Lijin’s words.
“Your Highness, you mean you want to inject an AI with independent consciousness and computing power comparable to the Main Brain into an ordinary robot body?” Saien’s eyes lit up. “This is a groundbreaking experiment! The Academy’s laboratory is open to you at any time. I’ll perform the operation myself!”
Chiron stepped forward, blocking Saien’s fervent gaze.
“Uncle, this matter needs to remain confidential,” Chiron said, his voice gentle but carrying a warning. “Nothing that happened here today can leave any record.”
Saien nodded repeatedly, like an old child with a new toy. “I understand, I understand. This is a subsidiary product of the Main Brain—top-secret. I’ll go delete the surveillance logs right away. I’ll take you to the special laboratory on the third underground floor now. The Hosts there are all at military-grade quality.”
The light-and-shadow form of the Main Brain flickered twice in the air and began to contract.
“My mission is complete,” the Main Brain said, its voice relaxing. “I will continue to maintain the empire’s computing network. This is the legacy Xiao Yi left for this world. As for you…”
“Go live the life you want. This time, no one can erase you.”
